teaching

Sshhh!!!

Niall O'Donnell 4 Comments

OK, now we can begin.

I’m not sure what got me thinking about this word (or, ejaculation at least, I’m not sure it merits being considered a word). It’s certainly not one I like to use much. Still, it’s curious. Continue reading →

I am a Human Being!

Niall O'Donnell 1 Comment

Have you ever thought about how strange that term, human being, really is? Continue reading →

Talk with the Animals

Niall O'Donnell 5 Comments

I came across a video of one former English-Premiership footballer interviewing another. On Twitter, I think. And for some reason I stopped to listen to a little of it. Continue reading →

Brexit Senza Accordo

Niall O'Donnell 5 Comments

It’s hard to avoid Brexit at the moment. I don’t intend to add to the commentary that’s already out there. Suffice it to say it’s a colossal mistake.

Anyway, I was listening to the news on the radio this morning, and the expression no-deal Brexit was mentioned (probably already for the fifth time today). As any innocuous word or phrase tends to do, this got me thinking. Continue reading →

Copy and Paste

Niall O'Donnell 5 Comments

I was writing an email at work today (I’ll spare you the details) which included a pretty basic phrase. As soon as I’d written it however, I immediately deleted it and rewrote it, changing it only slightly, but in a way that, to me in the moment, made it correct. What was that phrase?

Copy and pasted. Continue reading →

Amazon

Niall O'Donnell Leave a comment

If you’re reading this shortly after publication, then I don’t need to tell you about the horrific tragedy of the fires deliberately set in the Amazon Rainforest.

Focusing just on the name Amazon, I’ve often briefly wondered why the name was shared by the South American river and rainforest, as well the Ancient Greek all-female warrior tribe. Continue reading →

Quite a Predicament

Niall O'Donnell 2 Comments

I saw the word predicament recently, and thought that it would be an interesting case for a little bit of etymology figuring-out. It looks so Latin, with such clearly separate sections, each of which could have its own meaning, and which could all be added up to clearly show the meaning of the word as whole. Continue reading →